The Tribal Mind: Week 39

This blog is no longer current. Click here for the latest discussion of TV ratings.

Updated 10am, Sunday September 30
With the footy out of the way, Dr Who made a comeback on Saturday night, attracting 927,000 mainland capital viewers who had not yet drunk and shouted themselves into unconsciousness. The Doctor's own grand final next Saturday should crack a million.

Although the match was not in prime time, enough viewers left their sets tuned to Ten to allow it to win the night, with 25.0 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 24.7, Seven got 23.1, ABC got a hefty (for it) 20.5 and SBS got 6.7.

Before 6pm, we'd love to hear your predictions on the average audience the NRL grand final will total over the mainland capitals. (Click here to see how previous grand finals have rated).

Updated 10am, Saturday September 30
The vintage detective series Midsomer Murders pulls 1.3 million viewers to the ABC on a Friday, but only 505,000 viewers to Channel Nine on a Monday. It's a mystery why Nine keeps it on, when the axe falls on shows that are doing a lot better, but programmers don't think like normal human beings.

Although Seven won Friday night, the full week's averages show Nine on 29.0 per cent of the prime time audience, Seven 27.6 per cent, Ten 23.5, ABC 15.1 and SBS 4.8. That's unlikely to change as a result of Saturday's viewing, because Ten's broadcast of the AFL grand final was not in prime time.

Updated 10am, Friday September 29
Channel Ten's bold experiment of launching a big new US drama within a day of its launch in America is proving instructive. Traditionally Australian networks have been six months behind their US counterparts in launching new shows, which gives them time to see how the program is proceeding in the US and to ensure they are not risking prime time with duds.

But because TV fans now read about world programming on the net, and proceed to download shows illegally if they don't get them right away, Ten decided to gamble that Jericho was going to be this season's Lost or Desperate Housewives and rush it to air immediately.

As it turns out, Jericho's trajectory in Australia is downwards while it's holding its own in the US. Last night it managed only 947,000 viewers, down from 1.2 million last week. But then again, it was up against footy coverage at a frenzied time of year. Next week will be the real test.

Nine won the night with 37.3 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 26.3, Ten got 19.2, ABC got 11.7 and SBS got 5.5.

Updated 10am, Thursday September 28
The beatification of Steve Irwin by the people of Australia continues. An interview with the holy mother on Nine last night averaged 2.5 million viewers (Click here to see where it falls among the most watched programs of the 21st century)

Nine won the night with 31.6 per cent of the prime time audience, while Ten got 26.2, Seven got 23.6, ABC got 14.8 and SBS got 3.3. Ten wisely decided not to waste a new episode of House against that competition, and ended with 1.1 million viewers for the repeat. The fans of Spicks and Specks are clearly different from the kind of people who would watch an interview with the Irwin family, so the ABC suffered minimal losses -- 1.05 million for its grooviest program.

Updated 10am, Wednesday September 27
The big question was: did Nine's Dancing on Ice queer the pitch for Seven's Dancing With The Stars? Although DOA only averaged 1.4 million viewers in July, it might have made the viewing audience a bit jaded with the genre.

Last night Seven launched the fifth season of DWTS, and got the answer: Yes, a bit. The audience of 1.8 million in the mainland capitals was less than the 2.0 million averaged last season, and less than the 2.1 million averaged by the most recent incumbent of the timeslot, Border Security.

Still, Seven won the night with 36.4 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 26.4, Ten got 19.2, ABC got 13.8 and SBS got 4.2.

Updated 6pm, Tuesday September 27
That Eddie McGuire is such a naughty boy. With nine and a half "official" audience measurement weeks still to go, he's put out a press release in which Channel Nine declares itself the winner of the 2006 ratings year. Nine has calculated that no matter what channels Seven and Ten do between now and December, Nine's average audience share in prime time will be Still the One. So the image you see with this text might be Eddie McGuire looking at Ten's Grant Blackley and Seven's David Leckie.

Nine's press release says it has won 20 ratings weeks to Seven's nine and Ten's one. "For the year ... Nine is leading nationally on a 29.4 per cent All People share, ahead of Seven on 27.8 and Ten on 22.4. Nine is up 0.5 per cent on last year's result. "Nine Network chief executive, Mr Eddie McGuire, said: 'The depth and strength of Nine's programming has been a major key to our success in 2006.'

No doubt the ability to generate such optimistic observations is the reason Our Eddie is paid more than $4 million a year. But there is the nagging detail that Nine has included the Commonwealth Games weeks in its score, when the tradition is to exclude such special events as Olympic Games weeks in ratings assessments. If you leave out the Games (and Easter), the picture is rather different -- Nine's average audience up to now is down 3.2 per cent, the ABC's is down 4 per cent, Ten is up 1 per cent and Seven is up 3 per cent.

Nine's gain, such as it is, has been with viewers over 55, but it is down badly with viewers aged 16-39 -- and that's the group the advertisers love. But of course, it might pick up in the next nine weeks.

Ten won last night with 29.1 per cent of the prime-time audience, while Seven got 26.7, Nine got 23.1, ABC got 14.4 and SBS got 6.6. Mystery of the night was the spectucular figure of 1.1 million for Four Corners. What subject matter could explain this rise?

Updated 10am, Monday September 25
Now we know how many people in the mainland capitals have a TV set but no DVD player – or a DVD player and kids who just love commercials. The movie Finding Nemo is the biggest-selling DVD of all time in Australia. Nevertheless, when Channel Seven showed it at 6.30 on Sunday night, 1.3 million people tuned in.

Updated 4pm, Sunday September 24
It was Channel Nine's birthday week, but Seven and Ten got the presents. "Bloody hell," the Nine programmers are saying this morning, "Why does nostalgia work for them and not for us? And why doesn't sex work at all any more?"

Seven's TV Turns 50 – the Events that Stopped a Nation averaged 1.5 million viewers in the mainland capitals, while only 1.1 million watched Nine's 50 Years of Television News, hosted by Brian Henderson (looking the same age – 42 – that he has looked since he was 21).

The return of McLeod's Daughters drew only 1.2 million, despite a promo campaign that looked like an after-midnight commercial for a dominatrix service. And the new Caesarian miniseries Rome averaged only 770,000, beaten by a repeat of NCIS on Ten, despite the revelation that the society ladies of 55 C trimmed their pubic hair into neat rectangles. Who knew the Roman Empire stretched as far as Brazil?

With typically short attention span, Nine has decided to terminate Rome after only one episode, replacing it on Wednesday with the latest US series of Survivor, so scholars of pubic grooming will just have to buy the DVD.

An explanation for Nine's failure with nostalgia may be that viewers feel they've already seen every clip in Nine's vault at least twice. Or that viewers are so pissed off with Nine's erratic programming policies they don't see any reason to join its birthday festivities.

In a difficult week, Nine can always rely on rugby league to push it back to the top. As of Friday, Nine was behind Seven. But after 375,000 people in Melbourne watched their own team make history on Saturday (joining 616,000 in Sydney), Nine just scraped in to win the week with 27.8 per cent of the prime-time audience, while Seven averaged 27.4, Ten got 24.4, ABC got 15.6 and SBS got 4.8.

The ratings race is updated every weekday for readers of David Dale's Tribal Mind column, published in The Sydney Morning Herald. David Dale is the author of Who We Are – A Miscellany of the new Australia (Allen and Unwin). Past columns can be found at www.smh.com.au/tribalmind. For a discussion on last week's trends in television, including the resurgence of Dr Who, click here.

Posted
by Stay in touchOctober 1, 2006 12:59 AM

LATEST COMMENTS

Nice win for nine considering the bad start. I've been reading this column for awhile and wondering why the massive anti-nine bias? Every week there seems to be nine bashing for some reason or another.Please try and be objective even if you do work for seven. GO NINE!!!!! Still the 1!!

StayinTouch replies: Congratulations, Patrick, you are the first person to send a comment to the new Stay in Touch (even if this bit of it looks like the old Tribal Mind). I hope you will comment on the other elements of the column, when they go up after midnight tonight.
Who works for Seven? Any bias you've perceived may come from the readers, who seem to be annoyed by Nine's scheduling behaviour. Stay in Touch aims to be equally unfair to all stations (and to all politicians).

Posted by: patrick on September 24, 2006 11:06 AM

I've faithfully followed this blog across from Tribal Mind . David , could I please have a short , potted version of why you are now StayinTouch ( SIT ) ? I've been in hospital .

SiT (or Tribal Mind) replies: Even people who have not been in hospital don't know the answer to that question. I'm in Stay in Touch because a few weeks ago the SMH asked if I would come back and edit the column on the back page. I said I would if it could be both online and in the paper. As far as blog readers are concerned, it's an expansion of Tribal Mind into other areas of interest. It launches tonight.

Posted by: jane doe on September 24, 2006 11:55 AM

TM This is for you:
Wouldn't you think that nines nostraglia trip was down on ratings because 7 had done the same road the night before?
As for RL saving 9, wouldn't you think the death knell really came on Friday night for 7, when 10 ripped the heart out of 7's normal Friday Audience?
Just a couple of thoughts for you to ponder ;)

Posted by: darryn on September 24, 2006 12:33 PM

Good to see the new transition SiT. Bit confused about the image up this week though. And to Patrick, in answer to 'nine bashing', personally for me, it's because of their domination and scheduling that I don't trust/like them. Once again, looks like they're Still the One, managing to win the year (again).

SiT replies: Image is one of the women with the Brazilian in Rome. What's confusing about that?

Posted by: N.C. on September 24, 2006 12:55 PM

Tribal, you said "It was Channel Nine's birthday week, but Seven and Ten got the presents".
No, I would say Nine got the biggest present of the week - winning despite Seven's multi-million dolar "event" celebrating 50 years of crappy Seven programs.
As for the Anti-Nine bias - it's the old Aussie tall poppy syndrome.

Posted by: Frank on September 24, 2006 1:59 PM

Just a question, TM, regarding the ratings for Steve Irwin's Memorial Service live the other day.
Was it shown on Ten as well as Seven, Nine and the ABC? This would explain the 2.39mill being an aggregate figure of the four network's audiences between 9 and 10am on Wednesday. Isn't it odd that on the daily figures they are four programmes, yet come the weekly ones they've been added up?

Tribal Mind replies: Nothing funny about it: I added them up. I followed the same procedure with, for example, Diana Spencer's funeral and wedding and the moon landing, in the report of most watched TV shows of all time, which you will find at www.smh.com.au/tribalmind

Posted by: Samuel on September 24, 2006 3:22 PM

Congratulations TM on returning to S.i.T. Welcome back. Regarding Rome, the ending to the episode last Wednesday is not on the DVD. There were a couple of other bits that are not on the DVD's. By my calculation Episode 1 of the DVD's finisherd at the 44 minute mark. All the rest was from episode 2. There were scenes in the Roman Senate that were completely cut.

Posted by: David on September 24, 2006 3:35 PM

You say that Seven and Ten got the "presents" from Nine turning 50 -- but I don't see where Ten exploited the nostalgia (and thank goodness they didn't).

Congratulations on the new column, Tribal Mind. I see that you're putting a new Sydney focus on things. Was that a part of the deal? ;-)

Posted by: James on September 24, 2006 3:50 PM

I didnt watch any of 9 or 7's crap, reason being 7 i coudlnt be botherd.. but the 9 i had a real reason.. i saw the first 30 secs or something and decided that this is basicly 20-1 with differant voiceover, few extra comments but basicly the same. what is the same as that other show they made up.. 50 tv moments or wahteva the hell it was called.. its all exacly the freakin same, not to mention that they probably use the exact same footage and just edit the background so it looks like it was filmed somehwere else. seemed to be just when they made it they thought hey hey i know.. 50 top moments.. ok you get onto doing that list, but only relase half of it, then we will rehash it and put the whole list.. so we can make 2 shows out of 1 format..

anyway nice of 10 to screen jericho so soon after it release in the usa, hopefully other networks do this.. i was busy that night and the encore presentation.. but if not i would of watched it just for the sake that it was easy to watch and not years behind.

Posted by: Chris on September 24, 2006 4:14 PM

It surprises me that people who have been following this column for weeks still can't work out why there is such an anti-nine bias. I 'll boil it down to 1 word.....arrogance!! A few weeks ago, it was mentioned how they destroyed the last series of Friends by dragging out 18 episodes over 40 weeks. What about last year when they refused to show the final episode of CSI in the current season until the following year. They then promised never to do that again and guess what they're doing it again this year. Can you imagine the uproar if channel 7 tried to do that with Lost or Desperate Housewives? From following the networks in America, channel 9 seems to be following the trend of NBC. A once proud and like channel 9 arrogant high-rating network that has crashed to the bottom of the ratings heap. Its only after a year or two at the bottom that they've realised what its like to be humble and treat viewers with respect. Every network in Australia except 9 knows what its like to be at the bottom of the ratings barrel and work its way back up. This is the experience channel 9 needs to get itself back on track.

Posted by: Terry on September 24, 2006 4:41 PM

Does winning the year just prime time or everything?

Tribal Mind replies: The stations only report prime time. I will report the 24 hours figure as well, when end of ratings year comes.

Posted by: MP on September 24, 2006 5:01 PM

If 9 has pulled Rome after just one espisode how come there were advertising promos for this Wednesday's show on NBN this morning during the Today show? Is it off and no one told the promo guy? or is it still on? I am very confused - as is inevitable when they jerk the schedule around the way they do.

Posted by: LAH on September 25, 2006 9:50 AM

I saw 2 promos for Rome during the CSI shows last night, so I'm assuming it's still on at 9.30pm on Wednesday?

SiT replies: Apparently. Then gone until the silly season.

Posted by: Fats on September 25, 2006 10:15 AM

The "anti-nine bias" began in this household one evening in 2002 when the network chose to treat viewers to an "encore presentation" of season 3 of The Sopranos in place of the advertised and much anticipated 4th season.
I can't imagine Eddie treating his core audience of Footy Show fans with similar contempt by airing an "encore presentation" of the 2005 NRL Grand Final this year, but I can dream.
As for Rome, it has been available on DVD in the US and UK since at least July, and part one of the final season of The Sopranos can be pre-ordered from the US.
What did Nine hope to gain by holding Rome back until after it was available to purchase on DVD? To pull this programme (which they advertised such fanfare at the beginning of the year) after one outing, shows how little respect they have for their shrinking audience.
I'm looking foward to watching both Rome and The Sopranos on DVD without the interuptions, edits and timeslot changes, but I wonder how either programme would have fared if ABC or SBS had won the rights.
I can't imagine that their programming departments would have been caught fiddling while er, Rome burned.
Questions for SiT; What were the ratings figures for The Sopranos, and is it being moved to a new timeslot?

SiT replies: About 470,000 and nothing has been announced about moving it.

Posted by: tinderella on September 25, 2006 10:36 AM

Wasn't it stated the Rome would be pulled October 4?

Posted by: darryn on September 25, 2006 10:36 AM

Totally agree with Terry - 24/09 4.41pm.
TM - if possible can you find out the reason why Rome was cancelled so quickly, there has been talk about it on this blog for some time but to cancel a show after 1 or 2 episodes is infuriating. From memory Rome last week received approx 300k more viewers than The Sopranos so ????
Enjoyed Jericho - will like to see ten stick with this show.
Does anyone out there know why 7 is airing I think 3 hours of Bones this week, 1 hr Wed and 2 on Thurs? It's a good show and deserves higher ratings but are they beginning to treat it like the latest series of 24

Posted by: db on September 25, 2006 10:42 AM

I'm a downloader ... it's so liberating.

Posted by: canoli on September 25, 2006 11:04 AM

@ db, maybe Seven sees the potential in the show and wants to put it out there to as many people as possible.
I believe I reported the fact that Rome is being cancelled, well a correction to that post, it has been MOVED, probably to Mondays, 10:30pm. This still hasn't been confirmed though, but it won't be returning to it's old slot.

Posted by: Nikotin on September 25, 2006 11:38 AM

Welcome back to the back page David. Hopefully the merry go round of SiT has ended.
Stay in Touch is an iconic part of the Herald. If my memory serves me correctly, our former fearless leader Bob Carr once said, "I don't start my day until I've read all of Stay in Touch. It's that simple". I miss Bob.

Posted by: Den on September 25, 2006 12:02 PM

Interesting to see that the first hour of Finding Nemo beat the final episode of Prehistoric Park in all cities except Melbourne. The target audience here in Melbourne (i.e. kids) must be having other activities to do last night (e.g. the Royal Melbourne Show).

Posted by: johnson on September 25, 2006 12:11 PM

Welcome back to SIT, Mr Dale!
My whinges about tv:
* Damn it. Completely missed Jericho due to the change in time slot. Am less than impressed with Channel 10.
* Damn it. They're boning Rome. I wasn't completely impressed with it, but it kept my interest for the first episode at least. And they're replacing it with something I really don't want to watch. Oh well, nothing to see on Channel 9 again...
* Damn it. Sharpe's Challenge last night was really quite excellent (and what a bloody cliffhanger), yet I don't see it listed in the top 10 shows for Sunday. What a shame.

Posted by: tqd on September 25, 2006 12:23 PM

Rome was trash and was treated as such, bring on the new Survivor!

Posted by: Dirty D on September 25, 2006 12:47 PM

canoli wrote: "I'm a downloader ... it's so liberating."

Not when they lock you up for infringing copyright! :)

Posted by: damien on September 25, 2006 12:47 PM

So Nine is replacing Rome with Survivor? When does Celebrity Survivor finish on Seven? One Survivor a week is enough...

Posted by: ttnow on September 25, 2006 12:54 PM

Regarding "Rome"; while I didn't think the show that that great (it was no "I, Claudius"), I'm amazed that Nine has so quickly canned it due to low ratings. It was in a late-ish timeslot to start with, and didn't begin until well after it's advertised starting time, commencing after 10PM on a weeknight; did they really think a million or more people would wait up? That's why we have recorders..... I wonder, though, whether the ratings were the real reason for the show's quick disappearance. Could a few complaints over more Brazilians than a soccer World Cup have had something to do with it?

David - I have a question. In the non-ratings period do you also go on holiday or do we get your analysis for the crap-fest of Summer TV?
Maybe we can form our own ratings panel?

SiT replies: The column continues all thgrough, not necessarily with me.

Posted by: Ryan D on September 25, 2006 1:23 PM

I am suprised that nobody hasn't said it yet but "An Audience for Rome wasn't built in a day".

Posted by: BSF on September 25, 2006 1:39 PM

Well personally I don't watch a lot of free to air or channel 9. But doesn't it mean if 9 is "still the one", it is so because the viewers have decided to vote for it with their people meters?
And while on the subject of 9, although didn't see it been mentioned in SMH, read elsewhere about the "climate of fear" working at the number 1 station following the boning of someone for "leaking" info to Jana. Wonder what all that is about?

Posted by: Frankie on September 25, 2006 1:53 PM

canoli wrote: "I'm a downloader ... it's so liberating."

Damien wrote: "Not when they lock you up for infringing copyright! :)"

I doubt there would be enough room in jails if they decided to lock up downloaders, every second person would be breaking the law.

Posted by: vanessa on September 25, 2006 2:12 PM

saw Jerico, thought it was good. Not sure what Ch.10 could have done to advertise that Jerico was moving to 8.30 (basically half cancelling Tench BTW). It was advertised all week there. The only place it was listed at 9.30pm was the TV guide at the start of the week.

Posted by: Chris on September 25, 2006 3:09 PM

When is the Today show getting boned?
I flicked over from Sunrise and it looks so desperate. Richard Wilkins is awful.
It must be soon, i'd guess the team from the new look Sunday program will be taking over. They look pretty slick but also comfortable.

Posted by: matt on September 25, 2006 3:17 PM

"Or that viewers are so pissed off with Nine's erratic programming policies they don't see any reason to join its birthday festivities"

Hell yes!!! I don't watch channel 9 becuase I'm sick of having to track the programs- I don't have that much spare time...

Posted by: jen on September 25, 2006 3:50 PM

It's pretty easy to work out why Nine cancelled Rome. Their own hubris. They waited a year (yes, a year) since it aired on HBO. The series, for all its bloodlust, sex, violence, shagging, swordfights and dirty bits was aimed at a reasonably educated and literate audience - just the sort of audience with enough intelligence to either download the series at the time or buy the DVDs form Amazon at any time in the past six months.
Why should I watch it on Nine? It's already on the shelf at home.
In any case, I'd expect the ABC to pick it up for a song (as they did with The West Wing, another sterling series canned by Nine's arrogance), run it over 12 weeks on Sunday nights and pull a very respectable audience.
By the way, apparantly the BBC truncated the first three episodes into two, which accounts for some of the people feeling it was a bit disjointed.
Buy it on DVD if you really want it - the US version has the complete episodes. (just make sure you've got a multi-region player).

Oh, and Channel Nine - I'm already two episodes ahead of you on Survivor, and will be four eps ahead by the time Eddie gets his lazy self around to airing it.

So I won't be watching that on free-to-air either.

Take a leaf out of Channel Ten's book - I'm watching Jericho on Ten, rather than a sneaky copy from a downloading mate, because they have the common sense in a digital world to show it straight after the states.

Posted by: Prentiss McCabe on September 25, 2006 3:52 PM

canoli wrote: "I'm a downloader ... it's so liberating."

Damien wrote: "Not when they lock you up for infringing copyright! :)"

Downloading is illegal, but so is invading Iraq. Just say that the intelligence that you used to download was faulty, but it seemed good at the time. Blame everyone else but yourself, and don't forget to throw in a few, "I don't recall" and "I can't comment".

But lets move on to TV that nobody would download, like the footy finals. I suspect more people in Syd, Mel, Ade and Perth will watch the AFL, but more people in Bris will watch the NRL. Overall, I predict the ratings to be 20% lower for NRL and 10% lower for AFL than last year.

See how the media is talking up the game by trying to make Sydney support the Storm and Melbourne support the Swans. I know the CEO's want to promote their footy codes in other states, but please, one city at a time. Are you guys that threatened by soccer? The only good thing about the finals is that ticket scalpers are guaranteed to make a loss.

Posted by: sean on September 25, 2006 5:09 PM

Last night missed out on taping "Finding Nemo" for my 8 year old so will have to buy the DVD, her birthday is next month. DVD's are so much better anyway as no commercials.

Posted by: Eunice on September 25, 2006 6:08 PM

So evil Nein has yet again let down it's viewers by cancelling Rome. I can't say I'm that surprised, although I was expecting Rome to last a few more episodes.
I had wondered if and when they would get around to showing Survivor. I read somewhere that it was too expensive to show "hot off the satellite", so they would be delaying it. You'd think they have learnt from that last season.
In any case, Channel BT will enable me to be at least 2 episodes ahead of Survivor and when Eddie eventually shows it, I can be watching epsiodes of Six Degrees, Men In Trees, Veronica Mars, Smallville, Brothers and Sisters...

Posted by: Sam I Am on September 25, 2006 9:25 PM

GRRRRRRRRRRR! That was the last episode of the season of Top Gear, despite the fact that we're still a good couple of seasons behind. Mythbusters is back on next week.
Oh and SBS, if you're gunna put up a web address for us to send best wished to The Hamster, build a decent website and get the web address right!

Posted by: Bereft Skerrick on September 25, 2006 10:00 PM

I laughed so much reading Sean's last comment but "I can't comment" any further.

Posted by: Frankie on September 25, 2006 10:18 PM

I'm amazed Rome got past Nine's censors in the first place. Eddie probably took one look at the nudity and pulled the plug.
Actually, I didn't think Rome was all that good anyway - not up to the standard of I Claudius.
Apparently, Seven have very quietly axed YOU MAY BE RIGHT(if anyone still cares).
Thanks to the ABC for The Worst Jobs in History, Four Corners and Denton - all great viewing the last few days.
Grand Finals? The AFL will beat the NRL, because there will be a large audience in Sydney for the Swans. I doubt too many people in Melbourne would even know who the Storm are.

Posted by: Evan on September 25, 2006 10:52 PM

Im probably one of few who is actually looking forward to the off-season. The only shows i enjoy at the moment are TGYH, Grey's Anatomy and thats about it. This year Prison Break was enjoyable, Lost was okay last year but has just turned totally unrealistic to make it enjoyable and i dreaded the Aussie Biggest Loser ads.

This is probably the only year I will enjoy the off-season because of my two fav shows are both ending this year, Charmed and Alias. haha i already downloaded them and watched them already but im still looking forward to seeing them along with everyone else(a year after the US!).

Posted by: Marilyn on September 25, 2006 11:27 PM

what in gods name did channel 9 have at 730 tonight?! (monday) was it another trip down memory lane? haven't they learned their lesson!

Posted by: jake on September 25, 2006 11:55 PM

Evan said I doubt too many people in Melbourne would even know who the Storm are.
Apparently 490,000 of them do.I understand that was the peak audience for the Storm v Broncos game.

Posted by: bobmar28 on September 26, 2006 8:22 AM

Correction,Storm v Dragons game.

Posted by: bobmar28 on September 26, 2006 8:27 AM

Haven't watched free to air TV for yonks. Got sick of seeing programmes that the stations would say "That's what the public wants".
They just foist upon us any old rubbish,and wait for the $$$$s to roll in.
I have Austar, which I happily pay for, and have a much wider selection of viewing.
P.S., what am I supposed to put in the URL column? www.smh.com.au is my homepage, so will that do?

Posted by: Stephen Rogers on September 26, 2006 9:02 AM

my disgust with channel 9 has just gone to even further depths!..i just heard the entertainment reporter on Kerri Anne's show discussing the Terri Irwin interview as "gut wrenching" and referring to the ads for it as "teasers" (i know its a tv term, but not appropriate in this case!)...Kerri Anne went on to say that she had spoken to Ray Martin and what he said, but she didn't want to give away any "trade secrets" about the interview...how low can 9 go!?!

Posted by: spw68 on September 26, 2006 9:20 AM

I doubt Ch 9 axed Rome because of the nudity. They should be more concerned about the amount of violence screened on telly anyway. I'm really surprised that some of the violent acts that I've seen on shows such as Cold Case, CSI and Law and Order make it into the M rating for screening before 9pm. I've been quite shocked to see a graphic rape scene on Law and Order screen a couple of minutes after the end of Australian Idol or a graphic mass murder on Cold Case when I was waiting to for the start of Two Twisted.

Ddidn't actually get to see it myself though...slowly but surely being sucked into GA.

Sit: How did oz rate last night? It most definately was the most voilent episode I can recall so far, but strangely had strong "Angels in America" overtones to it

Posted by: darryn on September 26, 2006 10:10 AM

I think that figure quoted by our friend Eddie, definitely includes the Comm Games. Without them, the figures is alot less impressive.
Also, how did Midsomers, Criminal Minds and Boston Legal rate?

Posted by: Nikotin on September 26, 2006 10:12 AM

How did Ten win last night when it only had one program in the Top 10?

SiT replies: The Brownlows went on for hours.

Posted by: michael on September 26, 2006 10:16 AM

"what in gods name did channel 9 have at 730 tonight?! (monday) was it another trip down memory lane? haven't they learned their lesson!"
Just wait until they show a '20 to 1' of 20 to 1's. They can't be far away.

I really think the tv networks are shooting themselves in the foot with their policy of cancelling a program if it doesn't rate straight away. People just won't watch anything new, because they know if it doesn't rate, it'll get cancelled, so they're not going to waste their time with it. Which is precisely why I didn't watch Rome (because Lord knows, i'd really rather watch something else than the Glass House, but I didn't think it'd get the audience and it'd be shafted, then brought back in the Summer when I don't get time to watch tv). I did however support Jericho because I'm applauding ten's experiement to show the program according to the US schedule. I was pleasantly surprised, I really enjoyed it and i'm looking forward to watching it again. And I agree, I don't know what else Ten could have done, they showed advertisements from Monday morning advertising the fact that it would now be on at 8:30 and Tench at 9:30, you couldn't have missed them if you watched another ten program that week!!

Posted by: rkiejda on September 26, 2006 10:58 AM

Prentiss McCabe at September 25, 2006 03:52 PM said re: Rome; "Buy it on DVD if you really want it - the US version has the complete episodes." Does this mean the UK R2 version is edited?

Posted by: Fats on September 26, 2006 11:10 AM

Does anyone know how Midsommer Murders rated last night? I hope falls flat on its pommy backside, channel nine wnating to rush the end of a quality show like Two Twisted in favour of REPEAT!!!!

Posted by: garredz on September 26, 2006 11:28 AM

I see 7 has found a new meaning for "new", saw the promo for Boston Legal which claimed it was an all new episode which for someone who never saw the show from the start it probabley is as for the rest its a new word for REPEAT just like encore.

Posted by: Dommy on September 26, 2006 12:23 PM

Channel Ten and the AFL should be happy with 634,000 people in Melbourne watching last night's Brownlow Medal. It was lower than 720,000 who watched last year's vote counting marathon on Nine because:
1. traditionally Ten does not fare very well on Mondays
2. The telecast started at 8pm and was up against Grey's Anatomy from 8.30pm to 9.30pm
3. it had Australian Idol verdict show as lead-in.

Posted by: johnson on September 26, 2006 12:29 PM

At the top of the page Sit wrote:
"So the image you see next to this text shows Eddie McGuire looking at Ten's Grant Blackley and Seven's David Leckie".

And nobody likes swimming with sharks, do they!

Posted by: TGO on September 26, 2006 12:40 PM

Speaking of Channel Nine chasing ratings, I can only imagine this was responsible for the misleading way they promoted items on the last Sunday show. They were heavily promoting a story about YouTube before each commercial break as "coming up" and "coming up next", but then showing other things, including Laurie Oakes (who they didn't promote at all) and a financial segment. My teenage son wanted to watch the YouTube story, and became furious with the misleading way they kept suggesting it would be right after the ad, only to show something they hadn't even mentioned.

Posted by: Libby on September 26, 2006 1:12 PM

So 9 are claiming the win already. I suspect that over the next few weeks we will see so much spin it will make us dizzy.... still, the inclusion of the CommGames ratings is not exactly a surprise to most of us, It was predicted by various commentators on the old Tribal Mind page MONTHS ago. And soon the fun part starts - the playing with numbers in a bid to predict what might happen in 2007. For example, what if 25% of the audiance get tired of the CSIs and nothing else changes next year? What will the AFL changes do to the overall ratings? etc etc. On a completely unrelated topic, I was really annoyed at 7's recent live nostalgiafest. Despite shelling out a ludicrous 7 figures per race to steal the V8 supercars from channel 10, and despite having had the V8s for many many years (and doing an appalling job of broadcasting them), and despite the public being very aware of the series because of the untimely death of Peter Brock and all the accompanying TV, there was not one motorsport image in their "great sporting moments" - no Wayne Gardner (even though he was currently on a channel 7 show), no Mick Doohan, No Mark Webber, No Peter Brock, No... but you get the point. I greatly fear that this demonstrates the exact level of committment seven have toward the sport. And with the telecast rights locked up for 5 years, I wonder if the category can survive what 7 are going to do with it?

Posted by: Mike Bourke on September 26, 2006 1:16 PM

Can I throw in a complete non sequitur and say how much I love Ruth Ritchie and her column? Just read Saturday's (I'm a bit behind), and laughed out loud. She gets it exactly in her summation of the desperate state of Australian commercial TV. I pray programmers at 7, 9 and 10 read her column (and of course this blog.) Keep up the good work guys.

Posted by: Bec on September 26, 2006 1:33 PM

I don't know about you people in Sydney, but here in Newcastle, Prime (seven) is advertising Boston Legal as all new episodes. I thought last week might have been a mistake but they did it again for this weeks episode. On another note, let's hope that Richard "the Hampster" Hammond makes a full and speedy (no pun intended) recovery. Top Gear just wouldn't be the same without him.

Posted by: Rob Brollo on September 26, 2006 1:43 PM

You May Be Right has been axed. No word on what will replace it.

Posted by: pete on September 26, 2006 2:08 PM

Quoth J Bar at September 26, 2006 09:23 AM: "I'm really surprised that some of the violent acts that I've seen on shows such as Cold Case, CSI and Law and Order make it into the M rating for screening before 9pm."
I'd say it's because violence in crime shows can be seen as somehow having a moral purpose, in that the perpetrators pay for their crime in the end, teaching us all a valuable lesson. This "moral" violence is somehow seen as less violent than "gratuitous" violence, merely there for entertainment purposes.
But of course to those of us who aren't very fond of any sort of violence, there's a very fuzzy line between the two.
(I assume the perps get cornered in the end by our heroes and sent to rot in jail? I haven't actually seen enough of the CSI etc franchises to know if that's always the case.)

Posted by: tqd on September 26, 2006 2:10 PM

Quoth rkiejda at September 26, 2006 10:58 AM: "And I agree, I don't know what else Ten could have done, they showed advertisements from Monday morning advertising the fact that it would now be on at 8:30 and Tench at 9:30, you couldn't have missed them if you watched another ten program that week!!"
Maybe Channel 10 could have not decided to change the schedule? Just a thought.

Posted by: tqd on September 26, 2006 2:12 PM

Mr TM
Ytd Commercial Share:
Seven 35.6%
Nine 35.5%
Ten 28.8%

Posted by: paora on September 26, 2006 3:31 PM

Two questions - could you please help mw with:

1)Is this where the ratings blog will be from now? If so, I'm going to miss calling you TM. SIT just doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

2) When is the ABC going to bring back the West Wing and what season will they be showing? I'm sure that this has been answered in previous blogs but I can't seem to find it. It's a very popular blog...with heaps of comments to go through.

Posted by: Helena on September 26, 2006 3:52 PM

I'm so sad that Season 2 of The Office finished on Sunday night (Ch 10).
Season 3 has just started in the US, but I guess we'll have to wait until next year.
I loved the UK version, and was ready to dismiss the US one, but found it to be just as good. The US characters were very similar to the UK ones, but with typically American differences.
I didn't even care it was on so late because it gave me something good to watch while waiting for ST Enterprise.
Thanks Ch 10!

Posted by: Sal on September 26, 2006 4:09 PM

just wondering how Tench rates? can channel 10 axe it already! its driving me crazy, the jokes wore off 10 minutes into the first episode. by the way, loved jericho, will definately be tuning into that this week.

Posted by: kate on September 26, 2006 5:37 PM

I liken watching commercial TV to voting. Don't do it, you just encourage the bastards.

Posted by: Stephen Rogers on September 26, 2006 5:39 PM

When 9 changed their logo by dropping the balls, they flew a helicopter all over town trailing a huge banner adorned with the new logo. I only ever saw it from the 'wrong' side, the side suggesting the new logo would be an 'e.'
That's e for Eddie - Channel Eddie! So no one should be surprised that a CEO who renames the network after himself should be so humble as to miss any opportunity to bone the opposition even if it means massaging the figures.
Curiously, Channel 9 hasn't inversed their watermark yet so I've taken to watching the station in a mirror - it's still the same old crap, though.

Posted by: toidi on September 26, 2006 5:42 PM

In regards to Helena at September 26, 2006 03:52 PM, The West Wing will return with the beginning of Season 6 on Monday 20th November at 8:30pm.

Posted by: Samuel123 on September 26, 2006 6:28 PM

"just wondering how Tench rates? can channel 10 axe it already! its driving me crazy, the jokes wore off 10 minutes into the first episode".
Kate: I saw channel 10 advertising for a studio audience today, so they obviously don't plan to axe it yet.

Posted by: JB on September 26, 2006 7:25 PM

Re Jerico time change. Ten could have changed the schedule? If you are refering to the TV guide in Monday's SMH, then you will probably find they decided to move Jerico after seeing the poor ratings for Tench on the thursday before, and the editorial cut off for the guide is probably before that. It was also advertised in that days MX commuter newspaper at 8.30pm.

BTW, I still like Tench. The IV with Daniel Macpherson was funny. I know it is just a bit better than average, but happy to keep watching it. Maybe 9.30 is a good solution.

Posted by: chris on September 26, 2006 8:49 PM

Can anyone tell me what series of Dancing With The Stars this is. We don't watch it but seeing the 'Stars' they have lined up we just wondered how many they have gone though already. Thks in advance.

Posted by: jane b on September 26, 2006 8:55 PM

Now I am confused.Should the commonwealth games be included in the ratings figures or not?If not,which other events should be excluded.

SiT replies: The audience averages for the year are supposed to give advertising agencies an impression of how well a network is performing, so they can place their commercials for next year. It's customary to exclude big events that won't be happening the following year -- like Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Posted by: bobmar28 on September 27, 2006 8:44 AM

Only caught second half of DWTS. My only comment: I never considered taking up watching chess as a spectator sport until last night's chest sorry chess "celebrity".

Posted by: Befuddled on September 27, 2006 9:08 AM

bobmar asked about events being excluded from the ratings today @ 8:44 AM. It will be interesting to see what SBS have to say since The World Cup obviously falls into the category of event to be excluded. Will they go with the official figures which show them down, or will they go the Channel 9 route? (I refuse to call it Channel Eddie, his ego seems big enough already!)

Posted by: Mike Bourke on September 27, 2006 9:20 AM

Nine are winning the year if you discount one off events such as the Winter Olympics.
But you won't hear that coming from Simon Francis' mouth.

SiT replies: Good point. I will try to get OzTAM audience averages that exclude both Winter Olymplics and Comm Games.

Posted by: Adam on September 27, 2006 9:28 AM

tribal mind - what it channel ten doing with veronica mars??? Btw, new site looks great :)

Posted by: erin on September 27, 2006 9:29 AM

SiT, I don't think you can compare the numbers for Border and DWTS. Border only went for half an hour, while DWTS is averaged over two hours and abit.

Posted by: Nikotin on September 27, 2006 9:33 AM

V Mars will be back next Friday 6th Oct at 10.30pm.....picking up from ep 2, season 2

Posted by: Paul Pozzobon on September 27, 2006 9:39 AM

With the Winter Olympics it was programming as usual for Seven with the post 9:30-10:30 slots having the Winter Olympics on. But I guess it's only fair. SBS's World Cup coverage should also be excluded.

Posted by: Nikotin on September 27, 2006 9:43 AM

SiT, you said afew weeks back that you'd compare the news bulletins from each station, morning editions, afternoon, etc.

Posted by: Nikotin on September 27, 2006 9:46 AM

I dare say the reason dancing stars got 1.8 mill was that there was absolutey nothing else on the other channels.These 1.8 are probably the ones without a DVD player,computer, playstation or a good book.

Posted by: ace on September 27, 2006 10:09 AM

A dent in the ratings of Dancing With The Stars was inevitable. Even though the show is still entertaining, there are just too many celebrity shows on at the moment. Apart from 'Dancing On Ice', viewers are feeling celebrity fatigue with 'It Takes Two' and 'Celebrity Survivor' exhausting us in recent months. Let that be a lesson to Ch 7 and the copycat networks. Give the celebrities a rest now and try some new ideas.

Posted by: J Bar on September 27, 2006 10:17 AM

Nikotin, I think an important comparision to be made between BS and DWTS is that BS averaged 2.1 million-ish for its timeslot, whereas the peak audience for DWTS last night did not crack 2 million. So there was definately a drop in numbers for that 7.30 timeslot.

Posted by: Trent on September 27, 2006 10:26 AM

TM - How did real stories do? I think it is one of the more clever shows produced locally in some time. It is more like something D-Gen would produce. I would like to see Ten move it away from The Wedge though. It may do better not being tainted by that garbage.

Posted by: Dr DK on September 27, 2006 10:32 AM

I note that all the promos have been altered for the Terri Irwin interview tonight. Both Channel 9 and the Barbara Walters stories originally touted Bindi to appear also, but that seems to not be the case. Thank goodness she is not appearing...poor kid.

Posted by: Lisa on September 27, 2006 10:56 AM

Paul:-
>V Mars will be back next Friday 6th Oct at 10.30pm.....picking up from ep 2, season 2>

Thanks, Paul - great news!
So that final 30 seconds of an episode of VM that I accidently caught the week after the end of Season One was actually Ep One of Season Two? I wondered what it was - it hadn't been listed in my TV guide for that week! Hopefully I won't have missed too much by missing that episode.
Pity about the 10.30 timeslot, but a late-night screening is better than no screening at all.

Posted by: Mark on September 27, 2006 11:00 AM

the reason dwts isnt doing as well as previous seasons is because 7 are running out of so called "celebrities". c'mon seriously had anyone heard of the girl who plays chess before and the girl who lost weight and so is a "celebrity". personally i was over celebrity inspired shows before they were even invented and they should be made illegal due to the fact that all the "celebrities" ARE NOT EVEN CELEBRITIES.

Posted by: a on September 27, 2006 11:10 AM

to rob brollo (getting annoyed over boston legal being shunted and replaced with old eps), and to the nellies and nanas like damien getting all huffy and teary about "copyright infringement", try amazon.com. you'll end up with a dvd that has no ads, no adhd-ridden turd in the network's marketing screwing with the scheduling and sequence of your favorite show and, best of all, you can enjoy it on your terms. unless of course it's an hbo series, but let's not get me started with those hoopleheads.

Posted by: hank rango on September 27, 2006 11:17 AM

I think DWTS will continue to rise in Melbourne if Anthony Koutafides goes deep into the series. He is an Icon in Victoria and has a large Gay following nationally.

Posted by: darryn on September 27, 2006 11:32 AM

aside from the fact we have 'new old' episodes of boston legal - how does it stack up in the ratings please.
I am surprise the later episodes did not get a earlier 9.30? slot. For me its a good show and worth staying up for and i am (in theory) a good demograhic. (but hey i am only 1 on the watchers)

SiT replies:

Posted by: philv on September 27, 2006 11:37 AM

I too think the slightly lower numbers for DWTS are due to the uninspiring celebrity line-up. For me, the only ones worth watching are the chess champ (who's actually a pretty good dancer) and Andrew Gaze (who's just a really nice guy).

Posted by: Fielding on September 27, 2006 11:52 AM

Hey TM,
Could you please tell me how The Bill rated last night. I'm curious to see how it went against, DTWS, a show which it has struggled against in the past. Also if you wouldn't mind, could I also please have Futurama's ratings?
Thanks, much appreciated.
Daniel

SiT replies: Bill 797,000. And to answer the other perennial questions: The Wedge 722,000.

Posted by: Daniel on September 27, 2006 12:00 PM

i've only seen half of DWTS last nite, it was okay but I'm looking for the star celebrity constestants, where are they? were there even celebrities last nite, so to speak?

Posted by: edu on September 27, 2006 12:33 PM

Last night had some funny stats. besides the 1.83mill scored for DWTS, nothing else was over 1.4 mill. So minus DTWS, Tuesday would be considered a low viewing audience night (like thursday or friday)

Posted by: Chung on September 27, 2006 1:16 PM

Channel 7 will be pleased with the ratings for the Desperate Housewives Season 3 premiere in the US - over 23 million people tuned in. That, and the fact that more involving mysteries plus a more hands-on role for Marc Cherry have been promised this season, bode very well for its performance here in 2007.

Meanwhile, Studio 60 dropped 11% from last week and was again trounced by CSI:Miami.

Posted by: Fielding on September 27, 2006 1:22 PM

Who is Anthony Koutafides?
The Amazing Race 10 Is fantastic!
Nine shafted me with the finals of friends, sex/city, new series of Nip/tuck, final of Frazier....etc...etc

Posted by: dangle on September 27, 2006 1:41 PM

It is a terribly uninspiring line-up of DTWS, although I do respect Andrew Gaze for his past sporting feats but Tom Waterhouse? I thought DOI were scrapping the barrel with Jen Hawkins squeeze Jake, but Tom? C'mon on... Is that all we've got left? Since when is a 'star' a bookie?

Posted by: Lisa on September 27, 2006 2:00 PM

to hank rango : what does the trem " hooplehead " mean ? and if it is , as I suspect , derogatory , you are way off the mark about HBO . They have shown some of the best shows ever , Deadwood , The Sopranos , Rome, Oz etc . I'm sure I'll have lots agreeing with me . As for DWTS , what a misnomer of a title , last night's lineup was yawnsville , I've lost interest already , and in future will watch one of my many downloaded episodes from HBO

Posted by: jane doe on September 27, 2006 2:31 PM

hank rango wrote: "and to the nellies and nanas like damien getting all huffy and teary about "copyright infringement", try amazon.com."

Dude, get a grip. It obviously escaped you that my remark was made in mirth - I even included a smiley for you! Ah well... Fact is, I've been downloading since before bittorrent was invented and continue to do so due to the tactics of FTA networks.

Posted by: damien on September 27, 2006 3:01 PM

damien: a thousand pardons. i was at battle with myspace 'til 4am, and yr wit went straight over my head. and for some marvellous reason, i don't get emoticons.
jane doe: hbo IS wonderful, however...they indulge in some pretty grubby practises re the dvd release of their programs in the us. it's not uncommon for them to release the first part of a series and keep the consumer hanging on for ages for the rest of the season's release, as they've done with both sex and the city and the sopranos. as for the etymology of hooplehead; it's straight outta deadwood - the tv show. during the gold rush, there was a town near deadwood called hoople. the writers decided to cash in on this. and yes, it's very derogatory. especially when it spills from the shakespearean lips of al swerengen.

Posted by: hank rango on September 27, 2006 5:58 PM

Channel Eddie will win the year - but winning 25 or so weeks out of 40 isn't much to brag about. Recent years saw them winning 40 out of 40 - so this year has definitely been a failure compared to other years!

So why the hell did Eddie receive such an excessive pay package???

Isn't he the same CEO who has shedded 100s of employees and introduced draconian measures to cut costs? I mean - monitoring personal phone calls in the office??? Wonder how many personal phone calls amount to 4.7 million $$$???????

Oh well - they have a long way to go to be as disgraceful as Telstra and James Hardie.

But all is well - cos this is what Howards IR Reforms encourage!!!

Posted by: bettestreep on September 27, 2006 7:20 PM

thanks paul for the news on vm ;)

The third season premiere of GA beat CSI (both have the same timeslot) in America...and came first for the week...while House came in 20th.

Posted by: Jasmine on September 27, 2006 8:11 PM

Thanks hank rango for filling in my Deadwood gaps :) , I guess I missed that pearl amongst all the other cussing from al swerengen's lips . Your " Shakespearan " analogy is a gem :) How rude of HBO to delay the avaiability of series , just like channel 9 eh ? I don't get emoticons showing either , tho' I've added two for effect .

Posted by: jane doe on September 28, 2006 2:40 AM

Dangle, your comment about Anthony pretty much sums up why I said the ratings will rise in Victoria. He is not well known outside of the state unless you are a Footy fan.

He is a Carlton football player. Doubt if there is anyone in Victoria who doesn't know who he is ;)

Of course, that could be dangerous for the show, if he continues and doesn't attract the minds and hearts of non-victorians, it may lead to viewers turning off?

As for me, I'll be tuning in next week for my first ever episode of the show, as I've received quite a few emails from friends saying he will be dancing the rumba (sp?) next week and for this little black duck, it maybe the highlight of my television year ;)

Posted by: darryn on September 28, 2006 6:03 AM

i ended up watching the terri irwin interview last night and was pleasantly surprised with how well it was done...also good on melissa doyle and david koch who this morning have congratulated ray martin several times on his great interview...good to see at least some broadcasters can give credit when/where its due...

Posted by: spw68 on September 28, 2006 7:40 AM

DWTS ,oh please! Gave up on this garbage after the first series.
What stars are they talking about?
Lots of has beens and wanna be's .
How about channel 7 putting some money into Aussie drama instead of this rubbish.
I am so over the whole reality shows and so called celebritys who really aren't. I mean, who are these people? And who cares?
I think I will stick to DVD's on Tuesday night for awhile yet.

Posted by: emily on September 28, 2006 9:39 AM

So why the hell did Eddie receive such an excessive pay package???

Isn't he the same CEO who has shedded 100s of employees and introduced draconian measures to cut costs? I mean - monitoring personal phone calls in the office??? Wonder how many personal phone calls amount to 4.7 million $$$???????

Oh well - they have a long way to go to be as disgraceful as Telstra and James Hardie.

But all is well - cos this is what Howards IR Reforms encourage!!!

* Posted by: bettestreep at September 27, 2006 07:20 PM

lol, maybe he got his rise for the same reason howard and co gave themselves such a lucrative pay hike ...Cos we can and who is going to stop us?...

Certainly not the over 55's in either case ;)

Posted by: darryn on September 28, 2006 9:59 AM

SiT, in the intro you say, "An interview with the holy mother and daughter". The daughter wasn't part of the interview.

SiT replies: Good point. Fixed now.

Posted by: Nikotin on September 28, 2006 10:05 AM

2.5 mil?
It's official, I am not a average Aussie...in fact I'm beginning to doubt I am aussie at all!...Was I the only one who could not bear the thought of another episode of the soap opera known as "the death of steve Irwin"? Am I the only one who wakes up in a cold sweat after dreaming the saga goes on longer then the 42 years of days of our lives?

Posted by: darryn on September 28, 2006 10:07 AM

Just wondering how Kill Bill rated against Rome?

Cheers :)

Posted by: Jamie on September 28, 2006 10:12 AM

I didn't watch the Terri Irwin interview since I tend to avoid Nine - I couldn't stand their arrogance. I do sympathise with Terri and how brave she has been. Something that I need to applaud is Mel and Kochie's comments on the interview - they complimented Ray Martin for a well-conducted interview and how the whole thing was really well done. I couldn't imagine the same thing if somebody from Channel 7 actually won the deal. Channel McGuire would probably not give credits when they are due.

Posted by: Fuzz on September 28, 2006 10:13 AM

Interesting, about the Terri Irwin interview. I didn't watch it, but I find it intriguing that it did not do particularly well in Perth.
That is, it got proportionally massive numbers in Sydney and Melbourne in particular (take a look at the figures for those cities, and the number for the interview is massive), while in Perth, the number is less than astounding. Only 3000 more than The Force.

Anyone have an answer to why this might be?

Posted by: James on September 28, 2006 10:22 AM

Hi SiT.

A few weeks back you mentioned that you thought Blue Water High was a good programme, and I meant to agree with you at that time.
Although it is way out of my demographic, it is a well made program with good young actors. Is it still selling well overseas as the last series did?

Good on ABC for producing quality Aussie teen programming - a market sorely overlooked by just about everyone else.

Posted by: pete on September 28, 2006 10:22 AM

The city by city breakdown of several Wednesday night shows is interesting. Some very broad percentage fluctuations.

THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE 2: Syd - 434,000 Melb - 589,000

HOME AND AWAY: Syd - 463,000 Melb - 377,000

NCIS: Syd - 346,000 Melb - 458,000

In the rest of Aust ACA easily defeated TT but in Adl and Perth;

ACA: Adl - 106,000 Perth - 128,000
TT: Adl - 132,000 Perth - 213,000

The news lead in for ACA in Perth may explain some of it, but Adelaide?

Posted by: TGO on September 28, 2006 10:27 AM

Holy Mother? What is the point of referring to Terri Irwin as that? I don't think anyone is making her out to be 'holy', especially herself. And if you watched the program, you'd know the 'daughter' wasn't even a part of it.

Posted by: Lisa on September 28, 2006 10:47 AM

The Irwin interview was always going to attract big ratings but it had the advantage of a 'House' repeat and 'Bones' which was not in its usual timeslot. Ch 9 were also smart enough to negotiate a screening in Australia before any other interviews like the one with Barbara Walters today provided too many spoilers. It's becoming more and more obvious that in future, the networks in Australia will need to take into account all media possibilities overseas or risk losing audience through spoilers or downloads. This might make them ealise that soon they'll need to make more Australian entertainment for their networks because all the overseas stuff will be so easily obtained from other sources.

Posted by: J Bar on September 28, 2006 10:52 AM

Thank God You're Here is definitely one of the best new shows on Australian television. What makes it so good is its unpredictability and the skills of its guests to react quickly, cleverly and humourously to new situations.
So why, why, why must it be tainted, week in, week out, by Tom Gleisner's hackneyed and totally unfunny end-of-skit critiques? It's cheap and nasty and it's cringe-inducing, without fail. And his politically correct awarding of "best performer", often to a guest who clearly wasn't the funniest, leaves an unnecessarily sour taste in the mouth at the end of each show. Tom G was mildly funny on The Late Show, beige on The Panel and is diometrically opposed to "funny" on TGYH. Bring on some real judges.

Posted by: NK on September 28, 2006 11:06 AM

Loved TGYH again last night. Angus is without a doubt my favourite guest. I find the difference in performances from guests like Angus & Bob Franklin to others such as FiFi astounding.. you can serously see her thinking! whereas the lines just flow from Angus and Bob.. hilarious!

Posted by: Danna on September 28, 2006 11:43 AM

James said "....That is, it (Irwin interview)got proportionally massive numbers in Sydney and Melbourne in particular (take a look at the figures for those cities, and the number for the interview is massive), while in Perth, the number is less than astounding. Only 3000 more than The Force."

James: I believe The Force is filmed in WA, so that might account for it's popularity over there...

Posted by: JB on September 28, 2006 11:43 AM

I was a bit surprised at the massive ratings for the Terri Irwin interview (Flip Shelton said on 3AW this morning that the program had a peak of 2.9 million). It will be interesting to see how the AFL Grand Final will rate this Saturday.

James said "....That is, it (Irwin interview) got proportionally massive numbers in Sydney and Melbourne in particular (take a look at the figures for those cities, and the number for the interview is massive), while in Perth, the number is less than astounding. Only 3000 more than The Force."

JB replies: I believe The Force is filmed in WA, so that might account for it's popularity over there...

I say: The Force is about the West Australian police, that is the single reason the program is so popular in its home state.

Posted by: johnson on September 28, 2006 12:10 PM

johnson: I say AFL Grand final about 3 million, but all depends on Sydney figures.

Noticed Ray's interview with Terri Irwin had eclipsed that of the Beaconsfield miners Tracy Grimshaw did some months back. Missed the interview but from reading the reviews, it seemed worth watching. Would anyone know if 9 incorporated Barbara Walters' interview together with Ray or are they two separate piecea?

Posted by: Frankie on September 28, 2006 1:43 PM

Channel 9 Adelaide won't show the NRL Grand Final till 10.30pm that night. Instead they will put on some lame local produced travel show, followed by another lame Hugh Grant/Sandra Bullock movie. So whatever the ratings will be for the GF, rest assured that Adelaide won't be contributing to the figures.

And Foxtel can't show the game until after Ch. 9 has screened it.

This sort of programming typifies Channel 9's arrogance, and also is typical of Ch. 9 Adelaide - so obsessed about being "local", they don't give a damn about the viewer.

Posted by: Goose on September 28, 2006 1:51 PM

Out to lunch and I just saw Bryan Brown, he is currently filiming a scene in Parramatta where he is being driven into court and is being mobbed by reporters where they have retitled the building 'supreme court'. Anyone have ideas?

Posted by: dab on September 28, 2006 2:29 PM

canoli wrote: "I'm a downloader ... it's so liberating."

Not when they lock you up for infringing copyright! :)
Posted by: damien at September 25, 2006 12:47 PM

It has yet to be proven that sharing free to air television is an infringement of copyright. It is just a more advanced version of tapping a show and passing it to a friend. Is that illegal?

Posted by: Dan on September 28, 2006 2:44 PM

Fifi Box - arrrgh! Didn't TGYH learn last season? I switched channels when she came on. As for the rest of the guests, I thought they were all very good with little between them. Unlike NK, I don't mind Tom's 'critique', but do agree that the 'best performer' awards are totally stupid as they normally have nothing at all to do with who the best perform actually was.

On another note, did anyone catch The IT Crowd on the ABC? I had a weird sense of deja vu while watching it before I realised that it was a virtual clone of Black Books! Still, I'll stick with it as it was kinda amusing.

I'd expect a drop in the strong afl states this year, many afl fans found last years GF rather boring and with Sydney signalling they intend to flood, flood and flood just a bit more may result in a big viewer turn off. I for one will be missing my first Grand final in 36 years as a participant/viewer, the thought of a repeat of last years "rugby league" type style of play is enough for me to turn off.

I will be watching the rugby league grand final though, the thought of the two best "free" playing teams in the league is tantalising.

What is amazing is the Winner of the Rugby league grandfinal could very well out score the winner of the AFL grand final (not in ratings, but points) shows the depths of mediocrity that the Sydney swans and West coast eagles have taken afl football....

For whats it's worth...Ten will win the week, West coast by 9 points, and the Melbourne storm by 8.

But I don't know anymore, because the irwin interview has proven I'm no longer an Aussie anymore :(

Posted by: Darryn on September 28, 2006 2:55 PM

Frankie, 2 interviews with Terri Irwin were filmed, the Australian one completely separate from the US counterpart with Barbara Walters. Apart from one question from Ray of "did you love him too much?", I thought he did a really great job. That said Terri was quite amazing with her strength and courage, so eloquent, and seemingly genuinely dedicated to this country. As much as I dislike Channel 9, Ray is one of the best. Imagine how much better Beaconsfield or even the Kylie post-cancer interview could have been with Ray at the helm?

Posted by: Lisa on September 28, 2006 3:03 PM

Dab - I heard he was in a movie based on the Peter Falconio murder.

Maybe that is what its all about.

Posted by: Goose on September 28, 2006 3:17 PM

Bryan Brown, is filiming the Joanne Lees Case,

Cheers!

Posted by: checkonit! on September 28, 2006 3:24 PM

Bryan Brown is starring in 'To Catch a Killer' the movie on the Falconio murder in the Northern Territory. He plays the Director of Public Prosecutions, so that could explain the court scenes. John Wood, Tom Long, Asher Keddie and Richard Carter also star in it. It's a British-Australian production being made by ITV-Granada and Ch 10.

Posted by: J Bar on September 28, 2006 3:35 PM

dab-- 2:20pm ..
perhaps it is preparation for the next installment of two twisted for next year????

what do you think???

Posted by: ang on September 28, 2006 4:09 PM

it seems like the seal of quality comes with the title of least viewers, quality ABC viewing like foreign correspondent, the glass house, spicks and specks, enough rope,australian story and retrospectively considering extras, dalziel and pascoe, cracker, and mini series like Elizabeth II. Or even shows such as SBS's top gear, or Inspector Rex.
mind boggling as people never admit to the viewing preferences that the ratings indicate

Posted by: bullbeast on September 28, 2006 4:16 PM

So why, why, why must it be tainted, week in, week out, by Tom Gleisner's hackneyed and totally unfunny end-of-skit critiques? It's cheap and nasty and it's cringe-inducing, without fail. And his politically correct awarding of "best performer", often to a guest who clearly wasn't the funniest, leaves an unnecessarily sour taste in the mouth at the end of each show. Tom G was mildly funny on The Late Show, beige on The Panel and is diometrically opposed to "funny" on TGYH. Bring on some real judges.
Posted by: NK at September 28, 2006 11:06 AM

Totally agree EXCEPT for the bit about real judges. Tom Gleisner has not been funny for the 2 series. This has not gone unnoticed in this household. But by the same token Shane Bourne has not been funny either. When he laughs does anyone else laugh with him or is he on his own? Just play it straight and let the comedy happen in its own time.
Now, why the heck does anything need to be judged on this show?
It all stands or dies on its own merits anyway. If they were all unknowns playing for a cash prize it might be needed but they're comedians doing their job. Stop insulting us and them with this meaningless award at night's end. Fill in the extra time with some extra skits!

Not when they lock you up for infringing copyright! :)
Posted by: damien at September 25, 2006 12:47 PM

It is so worth it ... sometimes crime does pay.

Posted by: canoli on September 28, 2006 4:28 PM

I did watch the Terri Irwin interview, I wasn't going to, but decided i'd just watch the first few minutes, then couldn't look away. I'm not a big fan of Ray Martin (seen too many Eric Bana impersonations for my own good) but I must admit he did a wonderful job, asking questions that merited good responses without going too over the top. She was such a brave woman, and for the first time since the whole tragedy began I felt tears coming into my eyes, the questions asked really allowed her to share a mix of lovely personal memories as well as sharing her heartbreak, while being absolutely devastating to watch, it was also uplifting and life affirming.
I also have to commend the coverage of the interview on Sunrise this morning, such good 'sportsmanship' (for lack of a better term) by Mel and Kochie, complimenting Ray and discussing how much they enjoyed the interview, how well done they thought it was etc. Well done by both networks. And I have to say it's nice to be able to say something nice about channels 7 & 9, because usually I just have things to complain about! But, i'm willing to give credit where it's due! So keep it up, and the more positive feedback you'll get.

Posted by: rkiejda on September 28, 2006 4:39 PM

In the rest of Aust ACA easily defeated TT but in Adl and Perth;
ACA: Adl - 106,000 Perth - 128,000
TT: Adl - 132,000 Perth - 213,000
The news lead in for ACA in Perth may explain some of it, but Adelaide?
* Posted by: TGO at September 28, 2006 10:27 AM
ACA is all about swindlers, hustlers and failing Centrelink in QLD.
We just don't care.

Posted by: michael on September 28, 2006 5:10 PM

Posted by: Darryn at September 28, 2006 02:55 PM
You sound like a confused man there Darryn. You wont be watching the AFL GF because youre boycotting the RL style of play, but will be watching the RL GF as these teams play a more flowing game?
Last years AFL GF was as close a GF as you could get, despite your complaints about flooding. I dont know anyone who wasnt excited by it, especially after watching Brisbane and Collingwood knuckle it out a few years in a row. As for the RL GF, I dont know, I never watch it so I cant comment.
Have your little boycott, but as long as you dont have a ratings box, who cares, you will only miss out on a great game of footy...
On an aside note, I was looking at an article in the SMH earlier this week that the NRL are hoping to beat the 4.1 million viewers last year this Sunday night. Is that right SiT? I checked and all I could find is 2.5 million or something for the NRL GF last year. This is obviously a peak figure. Gotta watch those NRL spin doctors, they pluck figures out of a hat all season long.

SiT replies: If they say 4.1 million, they are making a guess for the entire country. In the mainland capitals, the figure might have been 2.5 million. Elsewhere, it's hard to estimate.

Posted by: Davo on September 28, 2006 6:05 PM

canoli wrote: "I'm a downloader ... it's so liberating."

Not when they lock you up for infringing copyright! :)
Posted by: damien at September 25, 2006 12:47 PM

I just watched the first episode of the new Veronica Mars series by video streaming from the Microsoft MSN site in the US to see what it was like. The quality was ok not the same as download quality but still watchable in full screen mode with no transmission breaks. I assume that was legal.

The networks should do what Ch 10 is doing with Jericho run the shows about the same time as they run overseas.

Posted by: saj2 on September 28, 2006 6:34 PM

I do think it is great that Mel and the idiot congratulated Ray Martin on the Terri Irwin interview. It was great to see!! and as someone said before it should be done more often.....
On the other hand tho i do think it is completely stupid that the rest of Channel 7 havent even acknowledged the interview. Instead they have prefered to show bits of the Barbara Walters Interview in there News & on TT.
How come the Sunrise crew can do it but Ian & Naomi have to show a 100 year old American reporters interview instead.

Posted by: JM on September 28, 2006 6:52 PM

Just checked the Guide and see Love Actually is on Channel 10 this Sunday night. I feel like i'm living Groundhog day!

Posted by: Nigel on September 28, 2006 7:22 PM

No, I really can't cope with trying to read this column any more. I suppose I still like the newspaper paradigm - give me all the story - let me click at the end of each - this dipping in and out and back and forth breaks up my ability to scan and read quickly and ruins concentration. Sorry - you're about to lose this reader.

Posted by: Dan on September 28, 2006 7:44 PM

Davo, not confused at all. Once the AFL grand finals were the greatest things to watch, Free flowing footbal high scoring bonzanas.

I can understand why you enjoyed last's year mess, so much flooding, it was a rugby league match.

Why does the nrl grand final interest me more?...rather simple really, both teams promise to use the football. A concept that neither the swans nor eagles have been able to master of recent times...I can feel the yawn coming on now

Posted by: darryn on September 28, 2006 7:50 PM

rkiejda at September 28, 2006 04:39 PM wrote:
"I also have to commend the coverage of the interview on Sunrise this morning, such good 'sportsmanship' (for lack of a better term) by Mel and Kochie, complimenting Ray and discussing how much they enjoyed the interview, how well done they thought it was etc."

It seems many people noticed this goodwill...to all the knockers out there, that's why Mel and Kochie are so popular..their DTE and honest approach to things...

Posted by: spw68 on September 28, 2006 8:28 PM

As one of the few who didn't watch Ch9 last night, was it just me or had the middle panellist on Alan Brough's team on Spicks and Specks been imbibing in something before the taping of last nights' show? Whoever/whatever she was, she was about as entertaining as Fifi Pox. Whereas Val Jellay on Myf's team was as graceful as ever and is an example of true talent.

As for The Pox on TGYH, she is seriously not funny. The trophy they award at the end of each evening has more comedic timing!

Posted by: Bereft Skerrick on September 28, 2006 9:02 PM

just an observation here, it really suprises me that alot of people here refer to the presenters of shows as if they run the show and are responsible for the stories, direction etc.

It is the producers that are the brains (or some might say lack of!) behind these shows, the likes of Ray and Naomi fly in, are givin a script, memorise, recite it and get the hell out. They are pretty much puppets. I can confirm that Ray's interview with Terri was completely scripted by several 9 producers.

Yes Ray executed the script well, its what he does as a presenter (some would say demi-actor), but it makes me laugh that alot of people seem to think that the hosts/presenters have content control. Sometimes they have a bit, but more often than not they jet in 2 mins before the show, read an auto-cue and get the hell out of there...

PHEW had to get that off my chest!

Posted by: jake on September 28, 2006 9:47 PM

The Terri Irwin interview was good and I'm pleased she did it. A brave woman indeed.

Only one thing disturbed me ... Ray's makeup job!! Ease up on the pancake, Ray.

Posted by: Onie on September 28, 2006 9:49 PM

Thanks very much Lisa for the info.

Posted by: Frankie on September 28, 2006 9:57 PM

Just seen another great episode of Jericho. I'm loving the fact that we are so close to the US - if this was DH or GA, I would be off to www.tv.com to see what was happening for the next 20 episodes, or getting somone to download it for me. Just love the fact that I have to wait, I haven't felt this kind of anticipation for a tv show since the last ten eps of Lost this year (when i discovered downloading). Surely the channels have to notice this... If this was Lost with new episodes, they would probably have record numbers. But it is human nature to peek at what is happening next, either by looking at episode summaries or downloading. So if Channel 7 continue to save the episodes for next year, I expect to see a drop in audience, not because there are any less fans, but there are more fans who have become internet savvy and can download. I guess what i'm trying to say is...

Damien, The IT Crowd will probably seem like a clone of Black Books, because it has the same writer.

Posted by: andy on September 29, 2006 7:54 AM

I only got to watch a little of Jericho last night. I'm still not sure how much I like it; but even so, it's sad to see its ratings decline below the million mark. I would hope this doesn't turn off Network Ten (or any other network, for that matter, if they happen to be thinking about it) from pursuing this idea further with other shows.

I'm a little curious to know how badly David Tench Tonight went. It's such an awful show, that it's painful.

Good work as always, Tribal Mind.

Posted by: James on September 29, 2006 9:51 AM

the only reason jerricho suffered last night is it was against the footy shows. wait till next week.

Posted by: ty on September 29, 2006 9:53 AM

You're wrong about Jericho's ratings in the U.S. It improved in it's second week over it's first week by 6%, a rarity amoungst new shows. It's so far regarded as a success.
In the future try not to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of a glib line in your blurb.

SiT replies: Thanks. My source was unreliable. Now checked and fixed.

Posted by: ralph on September 29, 2006 9:57 AM

jake - i am sure u are 100% right about the producers role in the production of shows and interviews. But the thing is we never see or know who the producers are, so that is why every good or bad comment that is made about a show is aimed at the Host (Reporter).

Posted by: JM on September 29, 2006 9:58 AM

andy wrote: "Damien, The IT Crowd will probably seem like a clone of Black Books, because it has the same writer."

And even an identical lead clone actor (of Dylan Moran) with the same accent, mannerisms and looks (Chris O'Dowd).

The movie 'Love Actually' is scheduled on channel 10 on Sunday night.
SIT aka TM, If your memory is better than mine perhaps you can confirm - Wasn't this movie shown only a few months ago? Why would it be shown again so soon?

to rkiejda: lost and desperate housewives return feb 07.
what consequences anyway?

ps: anyone know when prison break returns?

Posted by: kate on September 29, 2006 10:34 AM

From memory, Love Actually was promoted as a Mothers Day movie, so that would make it May; ie only 4 months ago.

Posted by: Sacs on September 29, 2006 10:38 AM

Get over it Ralph...
"In the future try not to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of a glib line in your blurb"
SIT aka TM said that it was "holding it own" in the US. I don't see how this is inaccurate given the information you have provided about the show in the US. If Jerico in Aust had gone from 1.2 m to 1.27 million (6% up), I don't think this would warrant lavish praise. Holding it sown would seem appropriate.
I suggest that In future you try not to sacrifice perpective and common decency when writing your comments.

Posted by: Chris on September 29, 2006 10:51 AM

If you look at the ratings for Jericho for the 1st episode compared to the 2nd - you can clearly see that the difference is Melbourne.

The audience was not that different for Sydney. But because the AFL footy show is nearly twice as popular as the NRL version - Jericho lost viewers from it's most popular city.

Will ch9 keep with 'the footy show' next year. The ratings for the NRL cities is quite poor and now they've lost the AFL broadcast rights. Don't be surprised if it disappears.

Posted by: adam on September 29, 2006 11:00 AM

Is Ray Martin's working contract up for renewal perhaps?

The cynic in me imagines this is why Mel & Kochie were publicly complimentary about his interview.

Posted by: Mez on September 29, 2006 11:17 AM

I wonder how many of "Jerico"s potential viewers were like me, and were going by a weekly TV guide that listed the show as commencing at 9.30? I tuned in a bit before 9, only to find that it was already half over. The lesson, I suppose, is that program scheduling these days can change at short notice, so it's best to check again on the day of broadcast.....

Posted by: Mark on September 29, 2006 11:19 AM

What happened to My Name is Earl last night?
in the light of day I have come to the conclusion that they put 2 hours of Bones instead to program against the grand final editions of the footy show on Nine.
I don't remember a warning that 'Earl would be back in two weeks' though...

Posted by: merciless on September 29, 2006 11:40 AM

Quoth ralph at September 29, 2006 09:57 AM: "You're wrong about Jericho's ratings in the U.S. It improved in it's second week over it's first week by 6%, a rarity amoungst new shows. It's so far regarded as a success."

I'm glad to hear that Jericho's doing well in the states, but I don't think TM was saying it was doing badly there ("holding its own" in no way implies a slump in ratings to this little black duck). Just that it had lost viewers here. (Although it being the Festival of the Boot time, I'm not going to write Jericho off just yet.)

I caught a bit of Jericho last night (after missing the first episode since I didn't realise that Ten had moved its time slot), and it wasn't bad. I didn't find the characters as believable as those on Lost (which sounds strange on the surface I know, but I really do believe what Dr Jack on Lost says, and when the Deputy Mayor had his speech in the bar about radiation poisoning, I thought "yeah, right, you're such a dweeb, I wouldn't listen to you, where's Dr Jack to give this speech?"); but it wasn't a complete waste of my time either and there were a few things that piqued my curiosity such that I'll probably be tuning in next week...

btw, if we discount the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games when we look at the year's ratings, why don't we discount the football grand finals as well? Surely they're a "one-off" event.

Posted by: tqd on September 29, 2006 12:08 PM

Yesterday Paora posted audience figures for the 2005 AFL Grand Final between Sydney and West Coast:

Which means Nine will have the top rating program for 2006 - the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony (3.5 million from my memory).

Posted by: johnson on September 29, 2006 12:11 PM

Re Chris (10:51 AM) telling Ralph to "get over it":

TM/SiT revised what he wrote. He originally wrote that as in the US, it was following a downward trend. Not word for word, but something to that effect. ;-)

TM: Perhaps this is a bad time to be asking, but whenever you have a chance, could you confirm that more than a handful of people watch World News Australia (SBS) at 6:30pm?

Posted by: James C on September 29, 2006 12:15 PM

Very disappointed that 'My Name is Earl' was taken off last night. Why is Ch 7 stuffing around with the schedule so that programs screen in different timeslots and different nights and multiple ti mes during the week. It really gives me the irrits when the networks do this. I had nothing to watch last night, so caught up on the final episode of 'Scrubs' from Monday night. I'm hoping that Ch 7 might give this show another chance in prime time this summer and maybe run it with Earl next year.

Posted by: J Bar on September 29, 2006 12:29 PM

TM: TEN thursday's share is 19.2 not 23.6.

Posted by: paora on September 29, 2006 12:43 PM

Hey SiT, how did The Sopranos rate on Wednesday night? Did you think the ratings for the now 'rested' Rome were impacting on the Sopranos?
It is such a well written and produced series. I have watched every episode from every series and will miss it when this last series finishes. I'm also enjoying that other HBO series - Oz on SBS.

SiT replies: 373,000.

Posted by: Sacs on September 29, 2006 1:13 PM

David, don't be so quick to write off Jericho. Its ratings were bound to be a little worse last night, up against the Footy Show Finale on Nine. I'm loving Jericho, and I give Ten full marks for putting it on air at the same time as the U.S. Once the NRL and AFL are over for the year this weekend, Nine presumably won't be winning the surveys by quite as much!
One interesting thing I've noticed: A Current Affair now consistently beating Today Tonight. Obviously the whole "Save Wa Wa episode" has done Naomi a lot of damage, and Tracy Grimshaw has more of an air of credibility about her.

Posted by: Evan on September 29, 2006 1:26 PM

@ tqd, the reason the footy grand finales are included is because they aren't 'one off' events, they happen every year. Also with events like Comm Games and the Olypmics, they pretty much take over the programming schedule.

Posted by: Nikotin on September 29, 2006 1:26 PM

Having watched bits and pieces of 20 to 1, then reading Jake's last comment, actually made sense. If only the Diana Christensen of today TV would give us more of the Howard Beale's "I'm mad as hell" of yesterday, wouldn't that be something to look forward to.

Posted by: Frankie on September 29, 2006 1:38 PM

on the My Name is Earl question, i do remember last week at the end of the episode, they stated that it would return back in 2 weeks time to its regular timeslot with Celebrity Survivor going back to its usual timeslot of 8:30pm aswell.. hopefully they do so, becuase i really enjoyed My Name is Earl... great program

Posted by: maestro on September 29, 2006 1:39 PM

Adam said: "Will ch9 keep with 'the footy show' next year. The ratings for the NRL cities is quite poor and now they've lost the AFL broadcast rights. Don't be surprised if it disappears."

Oh! That would just be SO GOOD!

That show makes me puke even when I just accidentally lob on it during channel surfing. Those few seconds until the remote responds by getting me outta there are sheer torture.

Posted by: Sal on September 29, 2006 1:48 PM

Regarding Darryn's comment on AFL.
Talk about using his best to persuade people from not watching the AFL GF on Saturday, with wrong facts.
In AFL states this week it has been all about how close this game will be & everyone is excited about this game.
Sydney & West Coast have said they think it will be a free flowing game & hence higher scoring & more exciting game.
Also based on the games played by both teams against each other they will have a high scoring shoot-out.
I for 1 will have little interest in the NRL GF this year. Considering the media coverage this year I expect the Sydney ratings will be higher than last year.
Also considering the AFL GF in not in prime-time, saying ch10 will win the week is wrong.
Go Swans!!

Posted by: Alex on September 29, 2006 2:56 PM

I tuned in for the first time to watch Jericho last night. I actually really enjoyed it but im very curious to find out how the writers will resolve everything in the end.
What i dont understand is why they cant contact other nearby cities that havent been blown up? Why isnt there any help coming from other countries and the whitehouse? Oh well i guess i have to keep on watching to satisfy my curiousity.

Posted by: Marilyn on September 29, 2006 3:09 PM

Then my deepest apologies to Ralph. Only read the comments after the revision clearly.
Having said that, cutting TM/SiT a bit of slack would also be reasonable given that he is not prone to sensationalising things in my experience. Thought the tone of the comment was a little rough.
have great weekend all!!

Posted by: Chris on September 29, 2006 3:38 PM

Darlings, regarding movies pre-release of US screenings.

Just wait until you see the story of Pamela Anderson and the trials of when she had her surgical implants removed, it is simply on the edge of your seat viewing! Look out for it at a cinema near you soon, it's called "A Sale of Two Titties".

Posted by: Mimi Bezuidenhout on September 29, 2006 4:24 PM

Posted by: johnson at September 29, 2006 12:11 PM

You are missing out on the NT and TAS and regional audiences in your assumption. Im betting TAS and NT combine 300,000+ alone, along with all the Vics, SA and WA people outside of the cities I reckon it would be another 750,000 all up, putting it well over the 4 million mark, and probably then some. I reckon it will be the highest rating thing this year.

Although having it during the day wont help 10 win the week...

Posted by: Denkorub on September 29, 2006 5:37 PM

Given that the majority of people who find and participate on this blog must be reasonably technologically switched-on, some of the comments above have me wondering how many viewers missed the first episode of Jericho because of the schedule shift and didn't bother going back to it because they had missed episode #1? And how many tuned in inadvertantly because of the schedule change but didn't tune in this time around because it wasn't their cup of tea? We all have a tendancy to treat week-by-week ratings changes as a simply up-or-down linear change, when they are the summations of a number of opposed dynamic phenomena. For example, I usually watch JAG and then Enterprise (on 7 and 9 respectively) on Sunday nights, but not when there's an F1 race on against them. So one week I may be a 'departing' viewer and the next I will be a 'returning viewer'. But at least 1 person I know reads a review of the episode online and then decides whether or not to watch it. So sometimes they make up for my absence, sometimes they add to the numbers that have dropped from last week to this, and sometimes they contribute to a resurgance. Add in thousands of variations and other variables, and you can delude yourself into categorising what's happening as 'trends' when in fact they are just 'noise'. And one thing any statistician will tell you is that two samples aren't enough to identify ANY trend (let alone analyze one), never mind something with as much instability as TV ratings. It takes hundreds of tosses of a coin simply to establish that there's no significant overall bias towards heads or tails - and that's a heck of a lot simpler. In any case, Marylin was asking why the citizens of Jericho couldn't contact other cities, and why no help was coming from Washington or from overseas. I would answer that they couldn't contact other cities because the Electromagnetic Pulse that accompanies any nuclear detonation would have fried a lot of the electronics unless they happened to be shielded at the time; that's why they were trying to get the old shortwave radio to work. Secondly, the event took place midafternoon the previous day and dealt with events through that day and night. The episode just aired picked up the story shortly before dawn and carried it through to the next evening. As was shown in the final sequence, there have been at least 10 nuclear detonations in different cities, and I doubt that Washington would be spared. We have no idea (yet) what's happening around the rest of the globe; the only hint we have is a minor item from the first episode (a news broadcast stating that the President was persuing a confrontationalist line with unspecified other countries over unspecified issues). Given the "nuke while you can" response policy of most nuclear-capable nations, I would not be surprised if most of the major cities across the world have been eliminated - Amsterdam, Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow, etc - which would mean that there is no help to send from overseas. Like us the viewers, the citizens of Jericho simply Don't Know. It's my understanding that the series is less about What happened and more concerned with how the townspeople react to events as they develop. Hope that helps :)

Posted by: Mike Bourke on September 29, 2006 6:51 PM

For the AFL Grand Final, I think it will get 2.25 million.

Posted by: Matthew on September 30, 2006 11:12 AM

2.25 million Matthew @ 11:12?

Thats insane! 800,000 in Sydney (avg, probably over 1.2 million peak), 1 million at least in Melbourne, 550,000 in Perth, 400,000 in Adelaide, and 350,000 in Bris, not to mention Tas and NT auidence should be included as its live across the entire nation, so I reckon closer to 3.1 million is a safer bet. 2.25 million for the NRL maybe, and that wholly depends on whether the Vic's decide if footy season is over today at 5pm or not.

I think it is...

Posted by: Ray on September 30, 2006 11:43 AM

Why do the NRL fans think their Grand Final will outrate the AFL? Even though its shoved on in Prime Time when more people are going to watch the TV than during the day for the AFL, it hasnt beaten the AFL this century, and dare say last century either.

Why would this year be any different? If anything, to use the same logic used by NRL fans and applied to why Vic fans WONT watch the AFL Final, why would the Sydneysiders tune in to watch 2 interstate teams as well? i think both will be down on last year, but AFL to far exceed the NRL viewing audience due to the parochial nature of the WA's and the sheer bloody single mindedness of the Vic's to watch any AFL game.

3.2 million to 2.1 million in AFL favour.

Posted by: Bludger on September 30, 2006 11:50 AM

NRL GF 2.73

AFL GF 3.02

Posted by: MP on September 30, 2006 12:00 PM

Hey TM/SiT: Just wondering how tens 'Before The Game' rated last nite ?
AFL GF will get well over 3 million no probs at all.
Cheers !

SiT replies: 647,000, of which 25,000 were in Sydney.

Posted by: Toddski on September 30, 2006 12:33 PM

Midsomer Murders probably rates high for the ABC because of two things. It starts and finishes at the time and on the day it's advertised, and is consistant with the other high standard of intelligent programs presented on the network.

As opposed to half the audience on ch 9, where it might be on this week, but maybe not, perhaps on the same day as last week, but maybe not, will start within 5 mins of the advertised starting time, but probably not, will be broadcast in the correct episode order and until the series is completed, but probably not.

I might watch ch 9 if I had nothing else to do, but .......

Posted by: TGO on September 30, 2006 12:50 PM

AFL 2.8

NRL 2.2

Posted by: TGO on September 30, 2006 12:55 PM

mmm, with Sydney involved, it will be a high AFL GF audience, i reckon 3.3million and for NRL 2.4million

Watching the Grand Final at the moment and Channel 10 just had an ad for shows in October & November.... and apparently according to the ad they are going to show the OC "as it happens" in the US. (just like Jericho). Maybe it is sign of things to come!!

SiT asks: Could you kindly let us know of any other new shows Ten is previewing during the GF? This is their last opportunity for self-help this year.

Posted by: JM on September 30, 2006 4:01 PM

i saw this ad too, it was for shows coming in october and november(they said specifically.) whilst i cannot remember the majority of shows they mentioned (the didnt mention many mind you.) there was a new one called (i think) "Tripping Over" its an aussie show. look it up at imdb for more details.
ps: if this is incorrect sorry in advance.

Posted by: kate on September 30, 2006 4:53 PM

SiT asks: Could you kindly let us know of any other new shows Ten is previewing during the GF? This is their last opportunity for self-help this year.

There is only one new show for Ten for the rest of the ratings season. They previewed Tripping Over (initially a telemovie or mini series), ARIA Awards, Australian Idol grand final, and Hollywood movies (School of Rock, The Bourne Supremacy, Van Helsing).

Posted by: johnson on September 30, 2006 7:07 PM

My predictions:

AFL GF - 3.6m

NRL GF - 2.8m

Well done Weagles!

Posted by: Zoidberg on September 30, 2006 7:27 PM

Why do you ignoramuses from NSW think that this years AFL Grand Final will get less viewers than last year. This year has had more hype, and an even more exciting and entertaining display of our national football brand.
The average audience out of Sydney will surely average over 1 million, at least 50-100,000 more people than watched last year.
A game which can produce so much drama, so much entertainment and intensity, its more than a sporting event, its a religion.
The final tally for the audience will very likely reach the 3.5-3.7 million mark.

Posted by: ryan from Tas on September 30, 2006 8:48 PM

I wish 10 would show Smallville "as it happens"

They haven't even finished off season 4 and season 6 has just started in the USA.

Posted by: FJ on September 30, 2006 10:19 PM

Adding to TGO's comment on Midsomer Murders. The ABC will be showing a new episode not a retread which was on ABC only a couple of months ago. No commercials to blight the viewing experience.
Also, Monday is basically Seven's night how can a carved up Midsomer match Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Boston Legal and Scrubs?

Posted by: Dommy on October 1, 2006 12:02 AM

ryan, seems those who predicted the ratings would be down for the AFL were spot on the money. Stick to Tassie, mate.

SiT replies: Be fair, though. It is still the second most watched grand final of all time.

Posted by: FJ on October 1, 2006 10:27 AM

We should hardly be fair to some Taswegian who calls those from NSW ignoramuses. Especially when they're wrong ;)

Posted by: FJ on October 1, 2006 10:43 AM

ryan from Tas at September 30, 2006 08:48 PM said, amongst other things:
"Why do you ignoramuses from NSW think that this years AFL Grand Final will get less viewers than last year".
Back to your jug and banjo pickin Ryan.

Posted by: tgo on October 1, 2006 11:10 AM

FJ, we'll have to wait at least until the end of Jamie Oliver's show before Smallville resumes. Hopefully, though, they'll show 3 episodes a week over the summer non-ratings period like last time.

And great news about Doctor Who, fitting for such a good episode. Hopefully, the finale will break a million - it did very well in the UK, topping the figures for Eccleston's final episode. By the way, if you're a fan of David Tennant, you'll be happy to know he's signed on for the 4th season.

Posted by: Fielding on October 1, 2006 1:47 PM

Back to your jug and banjo pickin Ryan.

Posted by: tgo at October 1, 2006 11:10 AM

Nice one TGO, really witty reply, you got Ryan good! - With comments like this, it really shows Sydney tries too hard to be a sophisticated international city, comparing itself to NY, and thinking everywhere else is a backwater. Truth is, Sydney is a spectacular city unfortunately filled with a vacuous majority who try way too hard to be superior to everyone else, too worried about going outside in thongs and whether that chai latte has a twist of lemon. And I live here, I see it everyday.

The reason people will watch the NRL GF on the box tonight is because they feel they have to, not because they love the game. There is no passion for the sport up here at all. Drive around Melbourne before the AFL GF and see the coulours of the teams everywhere - even when no Vic teams are playing. Drive around here and you see, well, nothing really. Is the NRL even on tonight? Theres just no excitement connected to this event.

That said, 2.1 million to waste 80 minutes on 5 tackles and a kick, 5 tackles and a kick, 5 tackles and........

My prediction for the audience for the AFL Grand Final was almost spot on: record audience in Perth (as it should be because of West Coast playing) and a little drop in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the 23 per cent drop in Sydney (from 994,000 last year to 765,000 yesterday).

Posted by: johnson on October 1, 2006 2:59 PM

Re: Ryan from Tas
I suspect making it to the finals was a case of been there done that for Sydney viewers. Also I think the media hyped it too much that people just got sick of it.
I know I didn't bother watching.

{1 -(3.15M/3.39M)}*100 = 7% less. Earlier in the week, I predicted 10% less viewers for AFL, so I was slightly off the mark :)

Last years NRL final got 2.57M viewers, so 20% less would mean 2.056M people for me to be correct.

It will be interesting to compare viewing figures of each State of both Finals.

Posted by: sean on October 1, 2006 4:04 PM

For all those predicting audience figures - you need to also consider changes to how the event is televised.
Last year the GF ch10 broadcast the game as a stand-alone program. This year there was half hour before and more than half hour after the game finished that would have been included.
Obviously after Sydney lost, people would have turned off their sets and not watched 40 minutes of Eagles victory celebrations! It's therefore a waste of time trying to guess average audiences. Depends greatly on the broadcaster.
what were the peak audiences? I suspect they would have been the same as last year.

Posted by: adam on October 1, 2006 5:30 PM

mmm..Go Eagles ;)
ppor audience in Sydney, had they jumped off the bandwagon before the match had even started?. More than likely.
But gee whiz, can't the SMH afford to hire journo's that actually know what Afl footy is?.
The coverage in the paper today has been appalling.
Just a small tip guys, the Swans would needed to of led more then the first 1 or 2 minutes of the match to have it "stolen" from them in the dying the seconds of the match. What would of been a real robbery is if the Swans had won.
So I hope for the Swans fans, that they learn a plan b over the summer and I hope for AFL fans the SMH gets a journalist or two who know what they are talking about and at least one who knows there are 15 other teams in the league and possibly know there names too.

Posted by: darryn on October 1, 2006 7:16 PM

To Pardo
My response to Ryan was meant as a tit for tat insult and nothing more. Perhaps it was my mistake to dignify Ryans comment with an answer. I do not believe that Sydney or its citizens are superior to other cities or states of Australia.
I too live in Sydney and agree with most of your comment. I did watch the AFL GF on Saturday, but will not be watching the NRL GF, as the game holds little interest for me.
If I have offended any Tasmainians I apologise.

Posted by: TGO on October 1, 2006 11:42 PM

nice work TEN cannot wait to see the OC just after airing in the states... saves me from downloading!

Posted by: janette on October 3, 2006 1:00 AM

Im so pissed off nine axed rome... it rocked

Posted by: jimboggo on October 5, 2006 12:18 AM

Smallville returns with a 2 hour premiere Friday October 20th from 7:30 to 9:30

Tribal Mind replies: Thanks for this info, but the blog you are commenting on is old. I have moved your message to the latest TV blog, which you will find at www.smh.com.au/sit